


Steps

by ichibiotaku



Series: Ties [5]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-05
Updated: 2016-01-05
Packaged: 2018-05-11 22:43:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5644510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ichibiotaku/pseuds/ichibiotaku
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>These are your first steps.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Steps

Rey watches Finn leave the cantina, hoping he’d look back and return to tell her he’d changed his mind. For the first time, she truly did have someone to talk to, someone to bond with, a person, not just a droid. She didn’t care if he was Resistance or not, if he was a Storm Trooper. All she wants is for him to stay. 

_ No! _

Turning her head in the direction she hears a familiar cry, Rey spots a stairwell that leads downward. 

Unbeknowst to her, Finn does look back, but the doors close behind him. 

The cry becomes more clear as Rey nears the stairwell. BB-8 rolls behind her as she passes through the wide range of beings in the cantina. Rey realizes that the cries are familiar, because it is the sound of her distraught younger self. She makes her way down the stairwell with BB-8 dropping every step down with her. 

At the end of the stairwell lies a long hallway. Rey can hear her young cries coming from just down the hall. She goes down the hall to find a door, which opens automatically, as if it were inviting her inside. Rey enters, and immediately, she is fixated by an old chest to her right. She hears BB-8 roll inside beside her as she slowly unlatches and lifts the chest open to see what’s inside. 

A silver hilt lies inside of the chest, and Rey tries to figure out the name. It’s on the tip of her tongue. The first thing she thinks of is how many portions this simple silver hilt would get her on Jakku. To get a better look, she decides to reach for it, but the moment she touches it, the sound of something igniting and the sound of a respirator floods her ears. 

Rey opens her eyes to find herself in another hallway, illuminated by blue lights. She begins to run frantically down the hall in hopes of finding an exit as the sounds of her own childish cries fill her ears again.

_ It’s energy! _

The hall collapses, and Rey falls on her side to see a crouched hooded figure put its robotic hand on an R2 unit. The sounds of a man screaming “ _ NO! _ ” reverberate in the dusty atmosphere. Once again, Rey can hear the screaming of her younger self.

Thunder flashes, and the hooded figure and the R2 unit disappear. In the rain now, Rey looks up to see a man about to swing a club at her when a red light impales him. She gets on her feet to behold the sight of a masked man she’s seen before, a man she can’t name, but she’s absolutely certain she’s seen this man before. The masked man is flanked by other masked warriors, and as the masked man takes a few strides toward her, Rey hears those cries again so clearly she turns back to see her younger self. 

“ _ No _ ! _ Come back _ !” a young Rey pleads, now clearly materialized on Jakku.

Unkar Plutt restrains her. “Quiet, girl.”

“ _ Nooo _ !” young Rey screams.

Rey looks up at the Jakku sky to see a freighter flying off planet. It fades into a burning red flare, and Rey soon finds her sandy surroundings fading into a snowy forest. 

“ _ Rey _ ?” an old man’s voice calls as Rey turns to run.

When she runs however, Rey is startled by none other than the masked man, brandishing his red weapon at her. She falls back and hears, “ _ These are your first steps _ . . .” The old hallway she had originally been is where she sits now, and Maz Kanata approaches her.

“What was that?” Rey asks, panting in shock. She stands up as BB-8 rolls out of the room. “I shouldn’t have gone in there.”

Maz points in the indicated direction. “That lightsaber was Luke’s, and his father’s before him, and now. . .it calls to  _ you _ ?” 

“I have to get back to Jakku,” Rey assures herself, ignoring Maz’s comment.

Removing her goggles, Maz nods. “Han told me.” She reaches for Rey’s hand, and Rey kneels to her height. “Dear child, I see your eyes. You already know the truth. Whomever you’re waiting for on Jakku. . .They’re never coming back.”

Rey furrows her brows. Of all the things to say to her after that, Maz says that, but it  _ is  _ the truth. She  _ does  _ know it. Rey holds back tears, closing her eyes and looking down. 

“But there’s someone who still could.”

Rey holds Maz’s small eyes, her eyebrows knitted. “Luke?”

“The belonging you seek is not behind you. It is ahead. I am no Jedi, but I know the Force. It moves through and surrounds every living thing.” Maz shuts her eyes. “Close your eyes. . .Feel it. . .The Light. . .It’s always been there. It will guide you.” She opens her eyes and looks at Rey solemnly. “The saber. Take it.”

Rey stands back up and shakes her head. “I’m never touching that thing again. I don’t want any part of it!”

Maz tries to form a response, but Rey is already out of earshot. 

Rey runs through the cantina, then out of Maz’s castle, and down into the forest. Finn is gone. Rey figures why not leave herself. BB-8 is in good hands, and he will be delivered to the Resistance. There’s no reason for her to be on this journey anymore. She’ll find a ship, fly it back home, deal with Unkar’s rage, and return to the life she knows best. She’s just a scavenger from Jakku. Her destiny lies there and nowhere else. 

When she thinks she’s run deep in the forest, Rey hears BB-8 behind her. “What are you doing?” she asks rather angrily.

BB-8 beeps in worry.

“You have to go back,” she tells him. 

BB-8 asks where she’s going.

“I’m leaving.” She kneels down to speak to him. “Beebee-Ate. . .”

The droid offers to join her.

“No, you can’t. You have to go back. You’re too important. They’ll help you.”

TIE Fighters can be heard above her, and Rey looks up at the sky in distress. She turns on her heel and runs back into the depths of the forest, BB-8 trailing behind her. 

  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
